Sunny

I don't really know where to start this post, so I guess I will just start from the beginning. There are many details that I could include here, but really it doesn't seem relevant to the story, so I guess I'll just start with the point that I was feeling a bit lonely, and I had always loved cats, so I decided to adopt. I was 23 and living with my parents at the time. My mom and dad said it would be okay for me to bring a cat into their house as long as I took care of him, so I started searching the local animal shelters. This search started in January of 2004. I went to all the different Humaine Society locations here in St. Louis but couldn't find any cat that would meet what I was hoping for. I wanted a kitten and I wanted a male*. Little did I know, there was a little furball who had been born, but was not quite ready to be adopted yet. Thank God I was patient and I waited!

In February of 2004, my mom and I went into the APA of Missouri. There were 4 kittens just released for adoption. And there he was. Sleeping in a heep next to his brother and 2 sisters. I knew at that moment that this was my kitty. They opened up the cage and I held him for the first time. His claws sunk into my shirt as he "screamed" in his high pitched little 'meow'. I filled out all the paperwork and paid for him to be declawed and neutered (poor guy!). I could pick him up in 2 days!

I couldn't wait! I decided to name him Sunshine. I picked the name because I had just moved home from Milwaukee. The sun does not shine much in Milwaukee winters and I decided that if I named him this, I'd be able to take my Sunshine with me anywhere I go. So he became my Sunshine. His full name is Sunshine Superman Schulte (Triple S) Better known today as Sunny. In that 2 day wait, I actually made a CD for Sunny**. All the songs on the CD said Sunshine or Sunny in it. And YES, the song Sunshine Superman is where he got his middle name and YES it is on the CD.

The day finally came when it was time to pick him up. I had to work that day, so my mom and Aunt Doe went to pick him up. Mom called me at work and said, listen to your baby. He was screaming again and his cute little meow was so high piched! I actually thought there might be something wrong with him and that he would sound like that forever***! I came home that day to the sweetest kitten with big green eyes and HUGE ears . . . take a look:



Luckily he grew into those ears - hehe! I would still love him no matter what!

That night I had him in my bedroom. He was so sad and confused that night. He had been taken away from everything he knew in his short 8 weeks of life. His paws were sore from the declawing and I'm sure he was a bit traumatized from the neutering as well. I tried so hard to comfort him but it was so hard. Eventually he settled into bed with me and slept in my hair. I'll never forget the loud purring sound that he made that night it was the BEST!


(this was on my Birthday a week after he came home)

Things were going along fine and I looked so forward to coming home from work to play with my baby. Then in May of 2004 THIS happened (warning - I go in a bit of detail about what happened to me on May 7, 2004 - If you can't handle it, please don't click - at the same time, I'd like for people to read it if you think you can handle it).

After that, it was just Sunny and me. I was so down I can't even describe it . . . although I'm sure you could imagine. But Sunny somehow knew this (don't animals just have a 6th sense about this?) and he was by me all through it. He was the only thing that made me smile throughout the whole thing.

Matt and Sunny have quite the funny relationship. We started dating in July of 2004 when Sunny was 6 months old. Again, animals KNOW! He HATED Matt and guess why . . . BECAUSE he knew that this was the person that came over right before his mom left him for the evening. It was so funny. He totally snubbed Matt every time he was over! He's gotten over it by now, but I don't even live with him anymore, so I guess that's why****.


(Look at Sunny totally ignoring his Step Father - this was the day we got engaged)

Sunny and I have been through so much together and if anything ever happened to him I would lose it. Which is what I did yesterday. My mom called to let me know that Sunny was throwing up and now she can't find him. The last time someone said these words to me, I never saw my cat (Flight - the one I grew up with) again. I just cried and prayed and cried and prayed again! I thought I would never see him again. My baby, my Sunshine!

Praise to the Lord that my Dad found him! Even better, he found him Alive! He IS sick so were not out of the woods yet, but my parents said that he is so much better today! He's going to have to go to the Vet for a few more tests, but I'm praying that everything will turn out okay.

So that's the story of my baby my sweet, sweet Sunshine Superman. Through this ordeal I've also realized that I'm not the only one who loves Sunny. The neighborhood kids actually made signs for Sunny and hung them up all over the neighborhood. The last line of the sign was - "He's a very sweet cat." He's so good with children and adults. I am so lucky to be his mom!

Rest up Sun Sun! Mama loves you!




*This may sound weird, but I've had 2 female cats in my life and they were both very mean cats . . . all the male cats in my life have been total sweethearts! Maybe coincidence, maybe not, but I was not willing to take the chance!

**Okay, it was for ME!

***It only lasted a couple months.

****When I moved into my house, he didn't do well. And can't stand to see anyone or anything suffer. Plus my mom wanted him too and all the neighborhood kids missed him, so I let him live with his grandparents.

Post Surgery

A lot of people have been asking how I'm doing. It's nearly 8 weeks post surgery and I can honestly say that I'm feeling SOOOO much better! It still feels "weird" but in general I really can't complain. The pathology came back and I am officially cancer-free! Woo Hoo!

I have been overwhelmed by all the love that my family and friends have shown me during this difficult time! I have received countless meals, flowers and gifts as well as many many prayers! I attribute all these prayers to my miraculous recovery. I was supposed to get an expander put into my breast after the doctor removed the skin and tissue. But when I work up from my surgery, it was quite the surprise that my breast surgeon was able to save enough skin that my plastic surgeon was able to place the "perminent" implant in immediately. This saved me from having another surgery later this year! Woo hoo!

Some picutres from my surgery day:

This is in the pre-op registration - no, I don't look nervous at all, do I???? HA!



Here is one of me in pre-op when they started my IV etc. Cute gown huh? Really though, the gown is pretty cool. It has a little attachement that hooks up to it and pumps hot air right into the gown. I didn't need it this time since it was nice and warm outside but when I had my December surgery, you better believe I had that thing blowing so much that I looked like the Stay Puff Marshmello Man (too bad we don't have pictures of that!):


Here's one of me with the BEST breast surgeon EVER - Dr. Yazdi:



I told him after this picture that I hope I never see him again . . . He agreed! (All post-op appointments are handled by the plastic surgeon).

I had many visitors after I finally got into my room. The first were my mom, dad and brother, James. James tells me that I told everyone in the room that I had an implant - not an expander - and no one would believe me. He also said that I didn't really care that no one believed me, apparently I just wanted some drugs - I have very little recollection of this.

Here's a picture of me post-op - if I look out of it, well that's because I AM:



Erin and Gerry also came by to visit me! Erin brough Ted Drewes! Matt liked to make fun of all the meds I was taking. Here is the picture of my nightstand from when I came home from the hospital:



Before I had this surgery I hated what I called "the M word" (aka mastectomy). I hated it so much that no matter what, if the word came up I would cry. People asked what I would be needing after my surgery. I had no idea, I'd never had a mastectomy before. So I started researching on the computer. I found a lot of very helpful sites that included things like button up pajamas, special bras, soft clothes, etc that would help me in my recovery. But I also came across a coupld t-shirts. In order to find these t-shirts, I had to type "the M word" into the search engine. When this shirt came up, I was cracking up! It was the first time the word Mastectomy was actually funny to me! Here's the shirt:





The other t-shirt I bought that made me laugh (sorry, no pictures!) says across the chest, "Pardon our appearence while we're under construction." It even had a construction sign on it!

As I mentioned above, I received so many thoughtful gifts. I cannot even tell you how many meals I received. It was so nice! Most of the meals were consumed when I was on some pretty strong medications, so we didn't get any pictures of me at that point in time. But Matt really takes advantage of it when he can take pictures of me. I told him I wanted some pictures of me eating one of the meals for my blog. And in natural Matt fashion, he went over board.

I'm cooperating here:



Giving him what he wants here:



Still going with it here:



Officially annoyed:



Guess which one Matt likes best? Yep, the last one!

So that's pretty much how things were in the weeks after my surgery. Things have been relatively normal now (except that I broke my foot!) I'm so lucky to have so many people in my life that care so much about me!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• All of my great family and friends
• Prayer warriors
• I'm cancer-free!